It’s not something the RSC really wants to think about, but there’s no denying that this new production of Hamlet is very much the David Tennant show. He didn’t do any interviews and there’s no mention of Doctor Who on his CV in the programme, but that’s not going to stop people from judging the show primarily on his performance. He is clearly the star attraction, and people have been chomping at the bit to see how he tackles the tricky role.

Frankly, he tackles it very well indeed. Remove the huge weight of expectation his fame gives this performance, and there’s no denying that he’s very good, energetically zipping around the stage, light-footed, wide-eyed and occasionally doing silly voices. It’s more lightweight than you might expect from a character as grief-stricken and vengeful as Hamlet, but that’s more a case of director Gregory Doran understanding what suits Tennant best and playing to his strengths.

Of course, there’s far more to this Hamlet than just a star turn. The rest of the cast is made up of such accomplished performers as Patrick Stewart and Oliver Ford Davies, whose amusing Polonius mumbles away in his own little world. Mariah Gale impresses in her limited stage time as Ophelia, her cracked voice achingly melancholy as her songs fill the silence of The Courtyard Theatre. Doran also includes some nice stylistic touches, the first scene featuring actors’ faces lit only by large torch beams bouncing off the mirrored floor.

The focus, though, is on Tennant, and he looks completely comfortable on stage, returning to the company that helped forge his theatrical career and which now revitalises it. This won’t be remembered as a legendary performance, but who said it would? It’s not a Hamlet for the ages, but rather one for the here and now.